


By The Sea

by noifsandsorbees



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Cancer Arc, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-18
Updated: 2016-03-18
Packaged: 2018-05-27 10:46:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6281551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noifsandsorbees/pseuds/noifsandsorbees
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He wants to tell her, again and again, until either of them believe it, that they won’t stop until she is cured, that this isn’t a slow death, but rather a heartbreaking hurdle. They’re smarter than that though, and even he is getting too weary to believe in such fairy tales.</p>
            </blockquote>





	By The Sea

Long past Baltimore she tells him to get off the highway, to follow the twists and turns of a map she hadn’t realized she’d memorized until there is nothing but ocean ahead of them. Her body feels heavy when she slips out of the passenger seat, as if the new growth inside her has doubled her weight, but she pushes forward, drawn to the eerie whisper of the calm water.

She hasn’t been back here since she said goodbye to her father so many years ago, but she suddenly needs to know the secrets he took away with him. His ashes are a mere memory in the sea’s veins, yet she trudges through the rocks and grass until the ice water is nearly running over her shoes, as if he’ll be standing there waiting for her.

The saltwater is already healing her in ways the drugs pumped into her in Allentown that week never could, and she’s starting to forget what she needs to ask Ahab, what answers to life she expects him to will into her.

And then Mulder’s there, a warm hand gripping her shoulder and reminding her that reality is never more than a moment away. She falls into him, collapses for the second time that night into his chest, and thinks about anything other than the shame she’ll feel staring at the tear marks on his jacket as they drive home.

“I want to ask him if it would be easier,” she chokes into Mulder’s chest, “if I could do this the way he did, just live and not wake up the next day,” _not drag either of us through this._

He’s silent for once, hugging her tighter and rocking her to the beat of the gentle current. He doesn’t know where they are, can’t picture Maggie’s tears in the rain, but still somehow he understands what is tearing her apart.

He wants to tell her, again and again, until either of them believe it, that they won’t stop until she is cured, that this isn’t a slow death, but rather a heartbreaking hurdle. They’re smarter than that though, and even he is getting too weary to believe in such fairy tales. This week alone has aged them each a century; there’s no time left for empty words.

She pulls back sharply, rubbing her face against her sleeve, but he stops her, cupping her cheeks and pressing his lips to hers for a comforting second.

“Don’t you dare give up on me,” he says, voice shaking just a breath away from her. “Not for a second.”

**Author's Note:**

> @tofutti-rice-dreamsicle is the best beta out there.


End file.
